Effect of Music Training on the Production of English Lexical Stress by Chinese English Learners

Abstract

In language acquisition, stress is one of the most prominent prosodic features of English. Previous studies have found that music training has a positive influence on second language acquisition. Under the guidance of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, this study aims to find whether music training can improve English stress production among Chinese English learners without music background. Major findings are as follows: (1) Music training has a significant influence on the stress production by Chinese English learners. Specifically, after eight weeks of music training, there has been evident improvement in pitch and intensity in the training group in distinguishing stressed and unstressed syllables in disyllabic pseudowords. Besides, the accuracy of the production of unfamiliar words in the training group has increased by 11.5% on average, compared with that of the control group which has little change. In addition, little effect of music training on duration proportion in stressed syllables is found in this experiment. (2) Chinese English learners’ perception of music can be positively transferred to their production of English lexical stress. Such findings provide further proof for the effect of music training on the production of English lexical stress, and propose a method for Chinese English learners to improve their English pronunciation.